Song of the Day: Pickwick – Light It Up (Let it Burn)

Every Monday through Friday we deliver a different song as a part of our Song of the Day Podcast subscription. This Podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song is “Light it Up (Let it Burn)” by Pickwick, off the 2017 album LoveJoys out now on Small Press Records.

Pickwick’s evolution in the last few years feels like an emergence from adolescence. All throughout the band’s first record, Can’t Talk Medicine, is the latent anger, fear, and risk of Galen Disston’s howl of a voice. The dripping masculinity of the act made for a powerful live show. On LoveJoys however, Disston’s anger re-contextualizes into a different flavor of seventies glammy grandeur. On “Light it Up (Let it Burn)”, Disston alternates between a growl over moody synths on the verse into a Bee-Gees-esque falsetto against a supremely danceable genero-disco guitar line.

Kinetic sensuality seems to be the theme of this record, which also echoes in the album’s first single “Turncoat.” You can catch Pickwick on their upcoming US / Canada tour which kicks off July 27th at the Wild Buffalo in Bellingham. No Seattle date currently on the schedule, but keep an eye on their Facebook page or website for updates. In the meantime, enjoy the KEXP-premiered video for “Turncoat” below.